Skype Founders Sue Ex-Joost CEO Over eBay Sale

The founders of Skype on Friday filed a new lawsuit against Index Ventures and one of its partners, Michelangelo Volpi, accusing him of misappropriating trade secrets to help broker the sale of the Internet phone service owned by eBay Inc.

NEW YORK - The founders of Skype on Friday filed a new lawsuit against Index Ventures and one of its partners, Michelangelo Volpi, accusing him of misappropriating trade secrets to help broker the sale of the Internet phone service owned by eBay Inc.

The lawsuit follows another lawsuit by Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis's other company, Joltid Ltd, related to eBay's sale of a 65 percent stake in Skype to a consortium including Index Ventures and Silver Lake for $1.9 billion.

Joltid sued eBay and the investor consortium earlier this week, claiming that Skype used its technology without authorization. Joltid and Skype have also been in a legal battle in Britain over software rights.

Volpi, the former chief executive of Web TV company Joost, which was also founded by Zennstrom and Friis, could not be reached for comment. Index Ventures declined to comment.